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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Guest Post: New Comics Wednesday (5/9/2012)

For BigBro's first installment and an explanation of terms, click here. He will be visiting intermittently to share his knowledge of comic books and the characters many of us have come to appreciate through movies like Thor, Captain America or Iron Man (just a short list). Give him some love in the comments or email me and I will forward your comments to him.

So you saw The Avengers (or Avengers Assemble in the UK) and
are wondering what comics to read. First,
we should thank Jack Kirby and Stan Lee for the Avengers bombastic 1960s origin. However, it was Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch
who made Hollywood take notice. In 2002,
they reinvigorated the then ailing Avengers franchise with The Ultimates:

The Ultimates #1 by Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch

âMarvel Entertainment

Their sleek 21st century reimagining wowed readers
and signaled that these concepts were ripe for film. Suddenly it wasn’t radiation and gamma bombs
that gave superpowers but clandestine attempts to recreate the supersoldier
program that birthed Captain America. In
a stroke of genius, Millar and Hitch recast Nick Fury, the foremost spy in the
Marvel Universe, as Samuel L. Jackson. The
brilliance of Millar’s words and opulence of Hitch’s art show through on every
page. So if you’re interested in the
roots of the films you’ve been enjoying for the last four years, look to the
following books:

The Ultimates Vol. 1: Super Human

The Ultimates Vol. 2: Homeland Security

The Ultimates 2, Vol. 1: Gods and Monsters

The Ultimates 2, Vol. 2: Grand Theft America

A word of warning, these stories like the film should be
considered PG-13. If you were confused by
the first post-credit reveal, you might want to check out this.